The twins are 17 here, Iris is 15. This is about Falling from Fine Line, and I missed you.
Italics are flashbacks.
—
It was another lazy weekend for the Styles household. The Princess was watering her plants, Harry replying to emails on the sofa as Eva watched the telly, Tommy editing a few pictures on his laptop as he sat beside them while Iris was looking for her rollerblades for God knows why.
Iris was in the storage room, where the family kept their old, precious belongings and memories and also known as one of Iris' favourite rooms in the flat because she always found out interesting stuff.
She huffed as she failed to find what she went to the room for, shoulders slumping before her eyes travelled to the vinyls stacked neatly, one after the other. Not having anything better to do, she walked towards them, playing a game of her own as she let her fingers graze them, humming when she chose a random one and picked it up.
Surprised was to say the least. In her hands, was a vinyl with her dad on it, in white trousers and pink blouse, striking a pose with 'FINE LINE' written at the bottom.
Curiosity filled the 15-year-old girl, making her almost stagger to where the record player was in the corner of the room, putting the vinyl in.
Placing the lever randomly on the vinyl, soft drums began playing.
Sitting on the floor, Iris was awestruck as she heard her dad begin to sing.
"Golden, golden, golden as I open my eyes."
Iris was grinning, moving in rhythm with the beat as she grasped the lyrics and Harry's voice.
The song coming to an end was the same moment her older siblings, the twins, walked in, closing the door behind them.
"Is that Dad?" Eva asked curiously, watching her young sister nod excitedly.
Iris raised the empty vinyl record, showing them, "It's an album. Called Fine Line."
They both sat beside her, gazing at the photograph of their father in amusement as Iris stood up, placing the lever somewhere else on the vinyl.
The second a piano note sounded, they all looked at the record player, eyes widening.
"That's Mum." Tommy whispered gently, pointing at the record player, "That's Mum."
"I'm in my bed, and you're not here. And there's no one to blame but the drink and my wandering hands."
They sat in silence as they listened to, what they almost knew, their mum play the piano, their dad painfully singing.
"I'm falling again, I'm falling again, I'm fallin'."
"Jesus." Eva breathed out, feeling her eyes water, making her rub them before grabbing the empty vinyl holder again, flipping it. It was almost as if her eyes knew where to go, they fell on their mum's name. Written in a very small size, almost as if they didn't want people to find out was 'Princess Y/N'.
"It really is Mum." Eva said gently, looking up at her siblings.
"And I get the feeling that you'll never need me again."
Tommy let out a breath, raising a hand to brush back his hair. "Do you think he wrote that about Mum?"
Iris looked up at her brother, frowning. "It's-" She paused, "It's so sad."
"I'm going to ask them." Eva said suddenly, standing up and taking the vinyl holder with her. Iris quickly paused the record as her and Tommy followed Evangeline out of the room and towards the sitting room where their mum and dad sat, Harry reading a book while the Princess ticked things off in her to-do list.
"Mum, Dad," Eva grabbed their attention as they walked to stand in front of them, she held out the vinyl, watching Harry's eyebrows go up in surprise and the Princess smile, "Iris found this."
"God," Harry chuckled, "That was my second album."
Well that answered one question.
"We haven't heard all of it yet," Tommy said, "But-Mum, you're on here, aren't you?"
The Princess leaned against Harry, looking at their kids, "What have you heard?"
"Falling?" Eva looked at them.
They saw how both of their parents took a breath, Harry wrapping an arm around his wife.
"It's me." The Princess answered with a nod and a small smile.
Iris sat down on the floor, crossing her arms as she looked at them with big eyes and curiosity, "What happened?"
"Want to tell them?" The Princess looked at her husband, her hand coming up to be placed on his chest as she asked him, gently.
Harry nodded, a low whistle coming out of his lips, "Your Mum and I were only dating..."
—
"I'm not telling you to not go out, all I said was that now that everyone knows we're together, everything you do will be go back to m-"
Harry rolled his eyes, "Right, because I'm with
Her Highness."
The Princess, at this point, had tearful eyes. She hated fighting with him.
"Is this new to you? Are you just acknowledging that now?" She asked him.
"No, I know very clearly that my girlfriend is the fucking princess of this goddamn country and that I can't have a pint with my mates because that turns into a political fucking statement!"
"You shouldn't have gone out with people who are controversial, you knew he defended the wrong people and was very vocal about it." She still talked quietly, despite her tearful eyes and thudding heart.
"Do I have to tell you about every single person I see now? Fine, Y/N, baby, can I please go out with Jeff tomorrow? He doesn't bel-"
"Stop."
"Can I go out with Nick? You know him, from BBC, h-"
"Harry, just stop."
"Oh, can I please see my mum? Do you think the people will take it well? Will your family approve?"
"Just fucking stop!" She screamed, letting her tears run down her cheeks. "I'm a princess, Harry! Everything I do people talk about, and you know that!" She took steps closer to him, jabbing her pointer finger to his chest.
"Well maybe I don't fucking want that!" He screamed back, opening his arms.
Her face fell, "What is that supposed to mean?"
Harry seemed to acknowledge what he said, all of it. He gulped, taking a breath in as he closed his eyes for a second. "It doesn't me-"
"No," She interrupted him, "You knew about this from the start so what the fuck is that supposed to mean? Do you want to break up? End this?"
"Y/N, just listen t-"
"No!" She cried, "You listen to me! I have been trying, so fucking hard, to make this easy for you! Went against my family to be with you because I love you! Went against the whole fucking world and all I asked was for you to think about me, about this, before doing anything. Do you have any idea about the shit I go through because I have a boyfriend who happens to be a singer and not from a royal fucking family? Do you have any idea about everything I do to avoid the public shit talk about our relationship because I only want to be with you? Because I love you?"
"Y/N, I-"
"You have no fucking idea," She shook her head, sniffling, "I don't even want to be around you right now."
The moment she bumped shoulders with him as she hurried towards their room, Harry allowed the tears to cascade down his cheeks, cursing under his breath as he followed her.
He didn't expect to see her stuffing a duffel bag with clothes, yanking her charger out and putting it in there. "What-Where are you going?"
"I said I don't want to be around you right now and I mean it." The Princess only said, harshly wiping her cheek from the tears.
"No, no, you're not going anywhere. Y/N, just listen to me, please," He tried, putting his hand on the duffel bag as she zipped it, "Baby, please-"
"I'm going to stay at Emma's." She whispered, holding the duffel bag tightly.
"No, you shouldn't be the one leaving," Harry sniffled, holding her hands tightly in his, "I'll leave but please just don't-Don't leave me."
She avoided eye contact, almost wanting to swear at the tears in her eyes that didn't stop coming, "We need some time to think."
"I love you." He tried. Tried to let her stay so he could hold her as they slept, forgetting all about the day's events.
The Princess looked up at him, staying silent for a few seconds. "I love you, too. But I want to leave."
"How long?"
"I don't know-"
"How long am I supposed to wait for you? For us? How much time do you need to think? I'll wait but don't end this."
She shook her head, a small sob leaving her lips before she looked down. "I'm not ending this," She shook her head again before looking up at him, "Are you?"
It was the last thing she said before taking her hands out of his hold and leaving.
—
"Stayed at aunt Emma's for about a week. Your dad stayed at his own house." The Princess told her kids.
"Couldn't really stay at our flat for long. Took me a day, was sulking everywhere before I decided to head to my house. Wasn't the best choice because we had far too many memories there, too but," Harry shrugged.
"When did you write that song?" Tommy asked.
—
She decided to talk to him. After 6 days of the both of them sulking, she was on her way to his house.
Their friends told her that he couldn't stay at their flat, was too desperate and sad without her. They urged the both of them to make up, to go back to being the sappy, lovey couple they were used to them being.
She only went back to their flat once to take her dog, Diego, with her because she didn't want him to stay alone and even then, she couldn't look around, afraid of breaking down.
Debating whether to use the spare key he had given her to his house or not, she decided against it, wanting him to at least know that someone was visiting, so she rang the doorbell.
It took Harry 2 minutes to open the door, rubbing at his eyes before his mouth was opened wide, staring in disbelief at the person in front of him.
He was in a white t-shirt, stained with what looked like coffee and she knew he didn't drink coffee a lot, and a pair of black joggers. His hair was messy, sticking up in different places. The bags under his eyes showed how tired he was, maybe sleeping too little or too much.
The Princess wasn't doing any better, but she managed to take a shower and dress herself in a light blue sweater and jeans, her eyes concealed by the round sunnies.
"Y/N." Harry breathed out before taking a step to the side, letting her in.
She took off her sunnies, looking down as her nose became tinted red, eyes beginning to water and her lips beginning to wobble slightly before she pursed them, looking up at him.
"I miss you."
In a second, she was in his arms. They wrapped their arms around each other, holding onto each other as if they were scared they'd disappear.
He kissed her head, leaning his cheek on it as he cried. "I love you," Harry reminded her softly, "I love you, I'm sorry. I love you."
That day, they were tangled on Harry's bed, naked, as no words were said but the reminders of "I love you"s.
It was during night that she was only in one of his shirts, seated at his piano, her fingers playing delicate notes as Harry, in nothing but boxers, sat beside her, arm around her waist and head on her shoulder.
It was as if she knew the notes by heart, beginning to play, awakening all the hurt they felt during the last week. He felt it in the way she slightly shook, heard it when she suddenly sniffled before he kissed her shoulder.
It was as if something flickered inside him. Harry stood up, noticing that she stopped playing and turned to look at him, her eyes almost pleading him to not leave.
"I'm just getting my journal," He said softly, almost cooing, "Keep playing."
That assured her and before they know it, she was back to playing.
Getting his leather journal, he went through the pages as he held his pen with his other hand. Reaching the one page he wanted, he looked at the lyrics he had written during that week.
"I'm in my bed, and you're not here."
The piano keys sounded in his ears, making their way to nowhere but his heart. He walked back towards the Princess, sitting back beside her and noticing the way she let out a breath once he did. He leaned towards her, letting his lips linger softly on her temple before looking back at his journal, his hand scribbling down words as if someone was reciting to him — something was.
—
"Wow." Eva, the oldest twin, gaped.
"Did you end up talking about everything? The problem?" Iris asked.
Harry nodded, looking at his wife with nothing but love in his eyes, "We always do."
//
You think I won't include an Instagram post to have the Princess celebrate Fine Line, right? WRONG